Baseball glove



1927. June 28'- B. J. CRAIG BASEBALLGLOVE Filed Jan. 8, 1923 Patented JuneY 28, 1927.

; @UNITED fs'rATEs.

i i 1,633,926? PATENT oFF-ICE. i

BUENIE J. CRAIG,` or Los ANGELES; cALiiioviuiiA.'l

` :BASEBALL GLOVE.

Application rieafaanugry 8, i923. seriai No. 611,229.A

venting the ballfrom being dropped but asv A.it-times thelball' is driven' or thrown with great force and as-frequently it has much spin or twist the pocket lhas not beenk entirely satisfactory.

The general object of the yinvention is to provide a padded baseball glove which will enable the player ltomore-securely hold lthe ball in the glove and hence cause less errors inplay. e i

Another object of the invention is toprovide'a padded'ba'seballglove or inittwith flexible gripping-menibers thereon so "constructed that vthe gripping members will contact with a ball when caught in the glove i and hence enable the player to more tightly grasp'theV ball. Y

Ak more detailed object lof the invention is to provide a padded baseball glove with spacedv gripping projections lor protuberances so arranged that `when a -ball strikes the glove in any of-a number ofpositions a plurality of the projections ort protuberances will engage the ball and prevent it -from bounding out of the glove. o

A speciticobj ect of the invention is to provide a padded ball glove with spaced gripping members arranged on the surface thereof,y the members being anchoredto the glove preferably on the inside of the latter;V and being so spaced that the portion of the palm of the' glove immediately surroundingthe gripping members will be smooth, so that the flexibility of the glove is undisturbed.

. Furtherand other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein Fig. 1 is an elevation of a glove showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a view, similar to Fig. A17 showing the manner in which a baseball is gripped by the holding projections; Fig. 3 is a view similar ,to that of Figs. 1 and 2 showing the manner in which a baseball is held inanother position on the glove; l is an elevation of a modied form of myl inventheball. This pad'- tion; Fig. is a cross section through one of theV holding members; Fig. 6 is al section.v

Qn line Fig. 1; F ig; 7 is asection on line i`7 F ig.4; Fig. 8 is va' section on line 8-8 Fig.i7 11`ig. 9is a rear View, in perspective,-

of a glove; and Fig. 10 10-10Fig. 4. 1,

Referring' to the drawing by',refeience characters I have shown a baseball glovev at 10. 'Thisl glove istypical of many gloves and is a section oniline mitts now in use and comprises a' front portion .11 and a rear portion 12.' 'iThe gloveis providedwith suitable padding -or cushion material 14 Whichis located adjacent the inner face of the front portion 11r of the glove. The glove is shown as provided with a suitable lining 15 to whichk the padding 14 may be secured. y y

' The thick padding used on ball gloves prevents tlie pla-yer from firmly pressing his fingers against the ball7 and as the'padding is somewhat springy the ball is frequently dropped.' Manufacturers sometimes make the padding thinner `near the palin'of the glove to facilitate gripping, but'. this is not entirely satisfactor and moreover causes the ball tosting the iand. I find that 'by providing flexible gripping members the diliiculties brought about by the padding are overcome. c

-Arranged in spaced relation 10,1 show gripping members 17, shown in detail in F 5 as-comprising a base portion 18 which may be circular, and a raised hollow protubei'ant portion 19. The giippers securing member to imite the latter-with thel The securing member may be glued y glove.

tothe gripper and to the glove iii addition to the sewing.v v o I now prefer to arrange the grippers as shown in Fig. 1, one beinglocated on the thumb andr one on each of the first threefinon the glove arepreferably made of rubber or other flexgers of the glove. Other grippers may be when the ball is grasped in any one of a number ot' positions on the glove there will be a plurality ot' the gripping members in lengagement therewith.V One position of the ball is shown in Fig. 2 wherein the grippers 22, 23 and 24'are engaging the ball. In

F ig. 3 the grippers 25, 26, 27l and 28 are engaging the ball. It will be apparent that in other positions of the ball two or moreot the grippers will be in Contact with Athe ball and aid in holding it in the glove.

The projections 19 being hollow, flex when engaged bythe ball and this increases the holding properties. Also by having the projections hollow should a ball strike directly on one of them it will flatten the projection and not cause the blow to be transmitted to the hand of the wearer.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that I show a web 30 united to the thumb and the index finger of the glove. This web may comprise a cloth, or leather, member 31 and in order to increase its gripping action when in contact with the ball I provide upon the outer surface of the 'web a gripping member. This is shown as` comprising a fiexible strip 32 made of rubber or other material, having a plurality of corrugations 33 upon its exterior surface.r..'I`he strip 32 may be secured to the web 31 by. stitching 34'or by gluing or in any other desired manner. The ends of the lstrip 32y may be in.- serted between the parts of the glove and when these parts are sewed the strip would be secured by the stitching. rIhe gripping member provided on the webmay be used in conjunction with thev gripping members 17, or it may be applied to an ordinary glove which has no other gripping means thereon.

One ot the gripping members 17 may be used instead ofthe gripping member 32, if desired.

Referring to the modification shown in Fig. 4 I show here a plurality ofgripping members 40 similar in character to the gripping member 32, just described. These gripping members may be located as desired. In the drawing they are shown as arranged with one member 40, 402 and 403 upon each ot the liirst three fingers of the glove and extending transversely of these fingers. Another member 41 which may be arcuate in shape is arranged near the bottom of the glove while another member 42 is shown as extending longitudinally ot the thumb. The Vweb member' 43 which serves to unite the thumb and index finger may likewise be provided with a gripping member 44 if desired.

The gripping members last described are shown in detail in Figs. 7 and 8 where it then secured by stitches 48.

"ends of the gripping members are extended within the glove between the portions of the glove forming the seam as at 47 and are The portion of the gripper in engagement with the face of the glove may be glued thereto if desired. lt will be notedthat the corrugations 33 are shown as terminating short of the ends 50 of the gripping member so that a less bulky seam is provided than if the corrui gations were continuous throughout the length of the strip. Y

Having thus described my invention, I

claim: i

Y 1. A base ball glove having a front portion to engage a base ball and a rear portion to receive the thumb and lingers of the weareigpadding between the finger receiving portions and the base ball engaging portion, the front portion of the glove which is adapted to engage a base ball having gripping means thereon, said means being flexible and including a part for engaging a ball held in the glove, iexible fastening means passing through the front portion of thevglove for holding the gripping means in place, the part of said fiexiblefastening means exposed on the ,front of the glove acting with said flexible gripping means to engage a spherical ball at a plurality of places on the surface of the ball when the ball is gripped in any one of a number of different positions by the glove.

2. A baseball glove comprising a front portion to engage a baseball and a back portion to receive the hand of the wearer, said portions being secured together to provide a thumb and linger portions, padding arranged between said front and back portions, a web uniting said thumb and one of said finger portions, said web having a gripping memberthereon to engage a baseball held in said glove. v

3. A baseball glove having a front portion to engage a baseball and a rear portion to receive the thumb and fingers of the wearer, padding between the finger receiving portion and the ball engaging portion, independent gripping members attached to the front portion of the glovel and opposite the portion occupied by certain of the fingers of the wearer, one of said members being attached to the outer surface of the glove in front of each of a plurality of the fingers of the glove and being so spaced that two or more gripping members engage a spherical ball when the latter is held in the glove in any one of a number of positions, the part of the front portion ot' the glove comprising the palm having its exterior surface unbroken by the projections. Y

4. A base ball glove having a front portion to engage a ball and a rear ortion to receive the thumb and ingers of t e wearer, padding between the finger receiving portion and the base ball engaging portion, flexible gripping members arranged on the n outer Jface of the front portion of the glove and opposite the portions occupied by the thumb and fingers of the wearer, said mem- 10 bers being attached to the thumb ofthe vor more spaced points when the ball is held in any one of a number of positions on the glove.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto ax myk signature.

BURNIE J. CRAIG. 

